Mythologist Michael Meade likes to tell the one about the woman in the cave weaving the world into existence. Each time she gets up to stir the stew she's got cooking on the fire, her dog pounces on the weaving, unraveling it. 

When the woman returns to her loom, "she stands meditatively above the chaotic mess and despairs," says Meade, author of "The World Behind the World." "Then she picks up an end and starts weaving again, this time to create an even more beautiful design."

It's a story that speaks of creating and undoing, of hope that comes from despair, of picking up the pieces and carrying on -- and it couldn't be more relevant in our world right now. "We're living through one of those times when things seem to be dark and unraveling. But from a mythic point of view, we're in a time of re-creation," says Meade. "All creation emerges from darkness. The great myths are about getting lost in darkness and then finding the surprising way out."

For those personally affected by the recent economic upheaval, this prospect of reinvention is often the only thing keeping despair from taking over. But even in flush times, when foreclosures, massive layoffs, and bankruptcies aren't constantly dominating the news, it's a pertinent message. Why? Along with its joys and pleasures, life is famously rife with disappointment -- and not mining our low points for insight only holds us back. "If you make meaning out of your suffering," affirms life coach MJ Ryan, author of "AdaptAbility," "you can turn surviving into thriving."

The key to spinning gold from straw? Adaptability, not alchemy. Brilliant adaptors have an innate ability to shake off adversity with a "that was that, now what?" attitude, according to Ryan. With unasked-for change, "there's always a death involved -- the death of a dream, a belief, or an idea of how we thought it was going to be," she says. Successfully adapting to adversity means moving, when the time is right, from mourning and regretting to focusing on the options and opportunities opening up before us.

Among those opportunities is the discovery of our own resilience. "Trouble makes people go deeper into themselves and find hidden resources," says Meade. Recent studies on "post-traumatic growth" suggest that the rewards of meeting challenges include an improved sense of personal strength, an increased appreciation for life, a sense of new possibilities, and improved relationships. "I haven't met one person in my entire life who hasn't gone through a hard time without gaining something -- courage, tenacity, patience, independence -- that they simply wouldn't have gotten any other way," says Ryan.

Hard times also offer a priceless reminder of the most fundamental truth about happiness: It comes from inside, rather than out. "Our lasting happiness can and needs to be independent of our circumstances," says inspirational speaker Marci Shimoff, author of "Happy for No Reason." It's not some spike of emotions or a temporary kind of pleasure that comes when everything is finally perfect and we have all we've ever wanted. "It's an inner state of peace and well-being that you carry with you wherever you go." Sometimes, it takes a setback to realize this distinction, and to start developing happiness as a skill and an attitude, rather than a goal.